Stay off town's outdoor rinks, Stratford tells P.E.I. skaters — they're 'essentially 3 bathtubs'
'It's really kind of touch and go these days to make an outdoor rink in Atlantic Canada'
Town officials in Stratford, P.E.I., are asking skaters to stay off its three outdoor municipal rinks for now.
Despite some cold spells over Christmas, the temperatures have been too warm to make ice on the outdoor rinks, and officials aren't sure when they will be ready.
"We have essentially three bathtubs right now within our community," said Jeremy Pierce, Stratford's director of recreation, culture and events, referring to the rinks consisting of a plastic liner surrounded by boards, then flooded.
Someone recently skated on one of the rinks and damaged the plastic liner, which caused the water to drain out. Workers had to find the hole and patch it before refilling the rink.
Usually, Stratford aims to have its ice surfaces open around Christmas and keep them open until early March. But in recent years, the start of skating season has usually been delayed until early January.
Losing recreational opportunities
The town said that over the last few years, ice-making has been difficult because of warmer weather.
Pierce said he has been seeing fewer home-made rinks in Stratford backyards in the last few years too.
"I think we lose a lot of recreational and social opportunities for our children," he said. "The side-effect of that is that there's probably more time spent at home on video games or on electronic devices.
"So I think we're losing some part of natural community-building. It's unfortunate."
Pierce said five to six evenings with temperatures of –10 C or below, plus overcast days, are ideal for the town to make ice.
'Shift in the winter climate'
Robert McLeman, a professor of environmental studies at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont., runs a site called RinkWatch. It's a citizen science project that monitors outdoor ice rinks across the country.
"Across Eastern North America since the late 1990s, we've really seen a shift in the winter climate generally," he told CBC Prince Edward Island.
"Winters are starting later, there's more variability in temperatures during the winter… those are always challenging conditions for making outdoor skating rinks."
McLeman said the lack of outdoor rinks is a stark symptom of climate change. Communities are close to losing the "cultural amenity" of outdoor rinks, he said.
"It's really kind of touch and go these days to make an outdoor rink in Atlantic Canada," he said.
Meanwhile, the rink at Founder's Hall in downtown Charlottetown did open Friday afternoon. It will remain open daily from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m.
The city reminded users they must wear a CSA-approved helmet on its rinks.
The city said staff will soon start flooding five more rinks in Charlottetown.
But as in Stratford, the weather needs to co-operate for them to open — and stay open.
With files from Jackie Sharkey